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Flamboyant princeling faces a fall after aide’s defection riddle

March 10 2012, 12:01am, The Times

Bo Xilai controls China’s largest municipality, in the run-up to a leadership changeAP Photo

China’s most flamboyant politician has spoken for the first time about the fall from favour of his right-hand man in a scandal that has exposed a power struggle at the top of the Communist Party in the months leading up to a leadership change.

Bo Xilai, the charismatic Communist Party boss of China’s largest municipality and one of the 25-member Politburo, seized the opportunity of an appearance at the annual session of parliament to try to limit the damage to his career from the investigation into his former police chief, Wang Lijun. The reason for the inquiry is still a mystery.

At stake is a position on the nine-member Politburo Standing Committee, China’s top decision-making body, which will be chosen in the autumn. That Congress…